In his last two directorial ventures Avadhaaram and Devadhai, Nasser
moved away from traditional tamil cinema stories, focussing on the little-known
dance troupes in the former and dealing with reincarnation in the latter.
But for his third outing behind the camera, he has selected a more conventional
story. Here he is Maayan, a modern-day Robinhood who steals from the rich to help
the poor, in the process becoming the object of affection for the villagers and the target
of the police. Movies like Malaiyoor
Mambattiyaan and Iraniyan have already dealt
with such outlaws and Maayan doesn't tread any new ground on the issue.
Maayan is the second movie in recent times to try to capitalise on the
popularity of a character in another movie by using the same name, though
the story itself has no connection whatsoever to the earlier movie.
Kunguma Pottu Goundar was Satyaraj's name in one
of his earliest hits. Similarly, Maayan was the name given to Nasser's
memorable character in Thevar Magan, arguably his best performance to date.
Maayan(Nasser) holds a grudge against the village zamindar inspite of the fact
that his own father works under the zamindar. Maayan's hands are tied by his
fiancee(Ranjitha) and for her sake, he accepts silently, all the false
accusations and insults heaped on him. But when she dies, heartbroken that she
has stifled him, he kills the zamindar and goes into hiding with his three
friends. He steals from the rich to help the poor and becomes a hero to the
villagers. He gains the friendship of Vengala Naidu('Thalaivaasal' Vijay),
a freedom fighter and is pursued by Azhagamma(Roja), a dancer, who wishes to
wed him.
Maayan is set in the pre-independence era but the fact just seems like
a lame plot device that is introduced to stretch the length of the movie. The
proceedings in the earlier parts of the movie give us no inkling of the time
period it is set in as Nasser and the villagers are harassed by the evil
zamindar. It is only with the introduction of 'Thalaivaasal' Vijay that the
freedom struggle is brought into the picture. But his segment almost seems like
a stand-alone episode of a TV serial and serves no purpose in the main story.
He is introduced suddenly and after his end, the movie reverts back to Nasser and
his friends in the forest.
Though the movie centers around Nasser and his friends, the relationships Nasser
shares with his parents and lovers are handled very well. While Vadivukkarasi
is the typical affectionate mother, Nasser's father is torn between his loyalty
to his employer and love for his son and brings this out well. Roja's admiration
for Nasser after their encounters is entirely believable. His request to her after
waylaying her in the forest and her action of handing over her nosering to him
are nice touches. The conversations among these characters are natural and
keep away from unnecessary melodrama.
But the reasons for Nasser's transformation into an outlaw and his activities after
becoming one are standard tamil cinema fare. The scenes at the fair, where he makes
a clever appearance even though the police are out in full force, are done well.
As in Dhil , the police inspector here too is a character
we develop a real dislike for and his heartlessness as he searches for Nasser is
well characterised. Again, as in most stories about such outlaws, it is a betrayal
that leads to Nasser's downfall and the climax is quite low-key.
Nasser is competent as always both as the angry youth and the outlaw. Roja plays
a brave woman and spews venom at the older men who lust for her. Vadivelu plays
a cunning barber who is always on the right side of the police officer and
succeeds in earning our dislike. Pasupathy is very effective as the police officer
and his strong stare aids him well in his role.
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